Page 53 of The Royal Engagement

“You feel ready because Damek is the one.” She takes a sip of her water. “And I’m not above admitting that I long for a love like yours.”

I never thought any of my cousins would be envious of me.

And it turns out, they’ve always been jealous.

17

WE FOUND HIM

When my cousins leave, I’m a little sad to say goodbye to them. I never thought I could feel that way aboutanyof my cousins, but my heart feels happy after the conversation I had with Sophia.

The week passes quickly. Wedding planning isn’t nearly as chaotic since Mom and Tiffany started getting along. The two of them have found common ground. Unfortunately, their common ground is their future grandchildren.

“At least you’ll have no shortage of babysitters,” Julien says after I tell him about our latest wedding planning session.

Even though we’ve hired a great team of designers, Tiffany and Mom both insist that we should be involved in the planning as much as we can. I don’t have the heart to tell them that I don’t care what the wedding is like. The only thing I care about is the marriage.

I narrow my eyes at Julien. “Just wait. You’ll get your turn.”

Julien smirks. “Yeah right. You see how Eden is. She’ll be thrilled to have grandchildren, but she’d never be vocal about it.”

Uh, he’s right. Eden is too sweet to say anything.

I turn to him, my lips tilting upward. “Ah, but I need nieces and nephews.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t I find a girlfriend first?”

“As long as you don’t date any of my cousins.” I give him my best stern look. I don’t think it works because helaughs.

“They do adore me.” He grabs my phone from my nightstand. “I should get their numbers, just so I can be friendly and text them.”

I snatch my phone from him and glare when I see that he’s past my lock screen. I glare at him.

“Your wedding date is your password.” He shakes his head. “Honestly, Maddie, you made it too easy.”

I roll my eyes and start to complain when my phone vibrates. I glance at it, expecting it to be Damek. Instead, my father’s name is on the screen.

Come to my office now. Bring Julien.

“Dad needs us to come to his office.” I try to swallow, but my mouth has gone dry.

Dad never has us working this time of the night. It’s nearly sunrise. Whatever it is, it must be urgent.

Julien abruptly turns and walks toward the door with a quick stride. I follow him closely, wondering what’s going on.

Right away, my mind begins wandering—is it the Nodin Clan? Have they done something again? Maybe they’ve kidnapped somebody else.

What if it’s Damek?

At the thought, I quicken my pace even more and slip in front of Julien as we rush down the stairs. When I get to my dad’s office, I throw the door open and make my way toward his desk.

“What happened? What’s wrong?” I sound out of breath, though it’s not from the run we did. I’m on the verge of a panic attack.

“Nothing is wrong.” Dad motions toward the chairs across from his desk. “Both of you, sit down.”

Julien closes the door to the office and comes to take the seat beside me.

Nothing is wrong.

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